Ruby Falls (3)

American country music singer and songwriter. Born January 16, 1946 in Jackson, Tennessee. Died June 15, 1986 in Nashville, Tennessee (age of 40). She began singing at a young age, in church or at local events. When she was a teenager, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and became a professional entertainer, working with several local bands including Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds as their lead singer. She charted nationally nine times as a singer and twice as a songwriter in the country music field between 1975 and 1979, one of the first African-American women to have a career in the genre. Her top song charted was "You've Got to Mend This Heartache" in 1977, which hit #40 (co-written by her and Charles Fields, Donald Riis). She was nominated as country music's most promising female vocalist in 1975.